Marble game



F. H. KING MARBLE GAME Nov. 30, 194-8.

5 She'ets-Sheet l Filed May 17, 1944 Snnentor Heclzrick H. Xi]? 3 F. H. KING MARBLE GAME Nov. 30, 1948.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1944 Eadeh'cli King Gttor 5' F. H. KING MARBLE GAME Now 30, 1948..

Filed May 17, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Zsnventor Be/clerjck H. King (Itto Patented Nov. 30, 1948 canine:

MKRBEE GAME :Frederi'ckr H: *;Ki'ng,' Detroit, Mickie:

This ainventionrelates-tomarble or ball games andiparticularlygamesthe'pbject'of which-is "to"- propel-"marbles" or the "like against a 'pivotal target"elemerltand -thereloy'vigorously eject a "scor ing'-'o1' king-marble "carried bysuchelement'r- The "improvements nowmade in-this type of game-consistprimarily-in" adapting a bell or other soundin'gdevice" to" be rung by the target element when the latter is actuated'witheuificient "force:

to'mount th'etarget element'uponaframe having a portiomrearward of such element serving'in I one pos'itionas'a marblestop-and inanother'pmsition' affordingaclear passage for marbles; and to"restrain--'the king 'marble from" dislodgment from-- its seatthroueh "impact" of 'played marbles against some portlon of 'the "frame carrying the targeteelement;

These and vari'ous" other improvements are in corporat'ed' inthe game hereinafter described'an'd illustrating -*in the Y accompanying drawings; wherein:

Fi'gi l is a perspective view'of -the" improved-- 'is are'ar view thereof.

Figl l-is atop' plaii= vlew 'of the target member and bell.

Fig. is a vertical-sectionalview-of the target members and-bell; taken on 5-4 of Fign-Z.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view,"show-' ing a modification.

In these views; the reference character I designatesia horizontally elongatedatarget platesup-,- I

ported. inranrupright position .=.by.:'a spair of plates 2 rearwardlmextending. from its endaportions and interconnectedriat .their..rear:;portions by a lplate 3. lZThezplates: l, 2, andh3 formia'substantially rectangulartenclosure" into .which. marbles: or. the likexmaylibeapropelled, through'zanearched :npen-H'v ingiid rising; :from the. .IQWeramargin-tof the plate: I, Icentral-lyithereofl ,Saideplateslare formed of sheeltsmaterial, preferablyfiber :.-board, their, iinteroi'mnectionv being such asto afford a ready la s-r. sembly and'rdisassembly t to facilitate packaging, shipment: and istorage of the 4 game. Thus. the lates: 2 I'have: slots .5. downwardly .zex'tende'd itrom; theiriuppenmarginsto receive thezpl'ates 3and-f 4 and the plate I has slots 6 upwardly extended from its lower margin to receive the plates 2. The plate 3 is also upwardly slotted to receive the plates 2, but its portion 1 between the upward slots is best, as indicated at 8, to extend rearwardly and may alternatively have a downward inclination of about fifteen degrees as shown in is-a fragmentary perspective view-showing the knock-down asseni'blyiof theframepartsprotuberances 9, -10; and-l l ',-*which as-c1early'= ap 5 spears in Fig-5' 5, serve-to hold the portion 'l in either of "its'two positions;-'the rearportions df theplates 2 being flexible slightly-apart to permit-" swinging the port-i-on *past the m'id'cl-le -protuber Rearwardlyofits ,pivotal akis'Fsaid strip is down-' wardly bdwed to' fo'rm a "receiver t8 for the king'" marlile" l-3the *rear end portion of said r'e'ceiver ext'ending above t-he 'walls I 5- -*and having*lateral extensions l sa to s'eat -upon--said walls un'der' I weight-*of'the king'marble Forwardly of its piv eta-1 axis "the marble *throWer*"-'forms a spring trip arm l-9*having aslight"forward-extent *from said aiis and -'b'e'ing3then downwardly bent *and terminating irrspaced relatio'n to'the surfacesup porting'-'the game;-'= lhe lower *end portion of "the trip arm is preferablyenlarged-for-engagenient- 4Q .by-ipropelled marbles.- The "pivot tongues "H may extend i-nteanally-fromsaid elongated strip butit is *preferred to *fo'rmmaid tongues on theends'" of a smallsteer =p1ate I Ba welded *tothe under face of the elongated strip. The-midl-portions of the arms l5 have their upper-*margln's bent slightly inward "and" spaced apart-a distance slightly lessthan "the diairleterof the marble l3; The lips 2 0 ''thus formedsafeguard "the mar ble "from ejection-due -to-impact-transmitted when the enclosure-forming frame I, 2, 3 is struck by a propelled marble. The transmitted impact drives the marble I3 rearwardly to encounter the lips 20 which restrain further movement of the marble either rearwardly or upwardly.

From the notch l2, a slot 2! extends centrally Midway between'its-ends, the plate-*3 has-a downward to receive a bolt 22 serving to mount a bell or other sounding device 23 on the rear face of the plate 3, such bolt passing through the clip I4 and being fastened to the latter by a nut 24. A bushing 25 on the bolt is interposed between the clip and bell to space the latter slightly from the plate 3. The opposed walls of the clip tend to spring apart divergently so that their resiliency opposes tightening of the nut 24 and has a locking efiect on the tightened nut. It is apparent that the bolt 22 serves both to mount the bell and contract the clip and thus secure the target member firmly on the plate 3.

The bend 8 formed by the intersection of the plate 3 and portion 'i is interrupted midway of its length by an aperture 20 proportioned to af- I ford contact of the enlarged end of the trip arm IS with the bell, such contact being shown in dash lines in Fig. 5. It is to be noted that the pivot tongues I! are positioned for insertion in the slots 16 only when the marble thrower is substantially. in its limiting position illustrated by said dash line showing. 1

The modification shown in Fig. 6 differs from the construction already described merely in that therear portion 1 of the plate 3' is permanently retained in its stop-forming position, a pair of opposed tongues 27 on the rear end of said portion being engaged in slots 28 in the plates 12 to maintain the portion 1' at a fixed inclination.

In playing the described game, marbles or the like are rolled or shot by the players toward the target plate, the object being to deliver the marbles through the opening and against the trip arm. A certain scoring value may attach to delivery of a marble through said opening andsuch value may be increased by dislodging the king marble from the targetmember, and effectinga sounding of thebell may have a further scoring value. The maximum scoring value will derive, however, from an ejection of the king marble with sufficient force to throw it forward over the plate 1. The players may take turns in shooting one or a desired number of marbles. When the rear portion I is in its normal inclined position it forms a stop for marbles entering the enclosure formed by the frame, the marbles tending to wedge beneath such stop where they will not interfere with subsequent shots. If it is preferred to let the marbles pass freely through the enclosure to rebound from a wall or to be returned by one of the players, the portion 1 is adjusted to its raised position. It is further advantageous to raise the marble stop I when the game is positioned close to; a wall, since access may then be had to any marbles underlying said marble stop by merely pulling the entire game forwardly, instead of lifting the game as would be necessary with the stop lowered.

Advantages of the game are that any desired number of players may participate, that the constructionis simple, inexpensive, and easily assembled, and that it may be quite compactly packed and shipped.

What I claim is: W

lower trip armior encounter by a projectile, of a carrier for said target element having substanffcs 1. In a game, the combination with a target element having an upper marble receiver and a tially parallel walls between which said receiver is normally disposed, and means pivoting the target element on the carrier between the trip arm and receiver, the carrier walls being formed at their upper margins with a pair of opposed lips disposed rearwardly of the normal seating position of the marble and projecting toward each other to restrain the marble from ejection from the carrier due to an impact not acting on the trip arm.

2. A game comprising a frame having two spaced side members and a member interconnecting the side members, all of said members bein formed of sheet material disposed substantially upright, the interconnecting member having its lower portion bent between the side members to extend rearwardly at a downward inclination, a target element for projectiles mounted on said interconnecting member at the front thereof and extending downwardly in front of the rearwardly bent portion of the interconnecting member, said portion being readily flexible upwardly and downwardly about its bend to assume a position in the projectile path or above such path, the side members having protuberances for retaining said bent portion in either its lowered projectile-stopping position or its raised clearance position and being resiliently flexible to permit the bent portion to pass the protuberances. 3. A game comprising a frame having two spaced side members and a member interconnecting the side members, all of said members beingformed of sheet material disposed substantially upright, the interconnecting member having its lower portion being between the side memhere to extend rearwardly at a downward inclination, a target element for projectiles mounted on. said interconnecting member at the front thereof and extending downwardly in front of the rearwardly bent portion of the interconnecting memher, said portion being readily flexible upwardly and downwardly about its bend to assume a position in the projectile path or above such path, and means carried by at least one of the frame side members for limiting upward and downward swinging of said bent portion.

- FREDERICK H. KING.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 393,016 Lennon Nov. 20, 1888 525,979 Fitzgerald Sept. 11, 1894 695,951 Seymour Mar. 25, 1902 783,973 McAnelly Feb. 28, 1905 1,097,395 Cullen May 19, 1914 1,223,256 Coffman Apr. 17, 1917 1,568,852 4 Kohler et a1 Jan. 5, 1926 1,604,846 Nelson Oct. 26, 1926 1,655,798 Richards Jan. 10, 1928 2,097,670 King Nov. 2, 1937' 2,128,468 King Aug. 30, 1938- 2,174,197 Ryan Sept. 26, 1939- 2,199,407 King May 7,1940

2,236,572 King Apr. 1, 1941 

